(Applause Books). Defying Gravity takes readers into the creative world of Broadway and film composer Stephen Schwartz; from writing Godspell s score at age 23 through the making of the megahit Wicked . For this first authorized biography; de Giere draws from 80 hours of interviews with Schwartz and over 100 interviews with his colleagues; friends; and family. Her sympathetic yet frank narrative reveals never-before-told stories and explores both Schwartzs phenomenal hits and expensive flops. The book also includes a series of "Creativity Notes" with insights about artistic life; and more than 200 photographs and illustrations. "In Defying Gravity; Carol de Giere pulls back the curtain and gives us a fascinating glimpse into the creative process of one of the musical theaters greatest wizards." - Stephen Flaherty; Tony-Award winning composer of Ragtime; Seussical; and Once On This Island "This is a fantastic book; scrapbook; story and photo collection." - Broadwayworld.com "Defying Gravity; which takes its name from the Act 1 closer in Wicked; is not just a he-did-this-then-he-did-this biography: de Giere reconstructs the collaborative process that brought Schwartzs works to the Great White Way." - The Journal News "A wonderful read. And the Wicked section provides a comprehensive account of a thoroughly recondite and even mysterious event: the gestation and birth of a phenomenon." - Gregory Maguire; author of Wicked (the novel); Son of a Witch; and A Lion Among Men "Trying to reconstruct the writing process of a musical is nearly impossible. Carol de Giere has captured it." - Winnie Holzman; book writer for Wicked (the musical) "This is a loving; in-depth look at the career and process of one of our most important musical theater writers. I am happy to have it on my shelf." - Lynn Ahrens; Tony Award-winning lyricist of Ragtime "A must-have for any of the composers many fans." - Theatermania.com
#1990646 in eBooks 2005-05-03 2005-05-03File Name: B005NGLSZM
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Has serious flaws but a good effort by the authorBy DrumblerIf you are a beginning sight reader this book is not the best. A negative with this book is that the exercises advance too quickly with more complicated rhythms. The author tells you to spend many weeks practicing two pages of rhythms in the beginning of the book. Only then are you advised to go further. This is all well and good but its better to combine learning rhythms and sight reading notation. Who wants to spend several months playing rhythms on a single string? Once you get into the next chapters the exercises focus on a key at a time in various fretboard positions. You are given only a couple exercises in each position. In the first key presented which is C. you are shown positions all the way up to the 14th and 15th position. He also inserts more complex rhythms while introducing new positions at the same time which is too much to learn at once.Can this book work? Yes. but there are much better options. I suggest Leavitts Modern Method for Guitar Volume 1. MMFG1 has about 20+ pages just on the key of C in first position. Much more thorough.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Sight-Reading for the Contempoarary GuitaristBy JanioThis is a great book. It is the most complete book of sight-reading Ive ever seen. There reading assignments in virtually all positions of the instrument.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Great book. but riddled with typosBy Cody ClarkeIve been playing guitar for about 7 years. primarily using tablature for reading music. Basic knowledge of reading rhythms in standard notation. I wanted to be able to learn how to read standard notation. with the goal of being able to sight-read it. This book was right up my alley.The first few exercises will make you feel like an idiot. I felt like a little kid struggling with music that seemed so basic. This was a GOOD feeling though. because I really was starting from square one. I was learning a lot. But then I started to get confused. and it wasnt my fault.This book has MANY typos in it. Not grammatical. just every so often in the tablature and examples. A mistaken fret number or note here or there. a mislabeled interval. Im not even that far in and Ive seen three big ones.Its a shame. because the exercises in the book are great. and though Im not done with the book yet. Im absolutely progressing as a sight-reader. as well as with my knowledge of the fretboard. I hope this book is re-released with the typos corrected. In a music book. there should never be any typos. A single note where it shouldnt be could really confuse a reader.
